MCC President Calls for Compassion and Kindness

Earlier today, MCC President Gena Glickman shared the following with the college community:

Dear Colleagues:

Over the weekend, a video surfaced that purportedly was filmed at a KKK rally in Stafford [Police now saying the event took place in East Windsor].

A woman participating was noted as a nursing student at MCC, and the video was shared widely. The woman who was tagged is not a student in our system (additionally, MCC does not have a nursing program). We do not know if this video is authentic, or even if the woman has been identified correctly, but authorities in Stafford and East Windsor are investigating the incident. The video has been deleted from Facebook.

Despite the unrest in the US during the past week, I had optimistically hoped it would not extend onto MCC’s campus. The Stafford video reminds us that no corner of our world is protected from such bias. Therefore, it is time to remind our students, our faculty and staff, and the members of our extended family of our statement on civility:

Manchester Community College is committed to maintaining a social and physical environment conducive to carrying out its educational mission. Each and every person at Manchester Community College – faculty, staff, or student – is responsible for the maintenance of a positive environment in which everyone may feel safe and comfortable learning and working.

MCC will not tolerate any act that demeans or threatens a member of our community in any way.

I have asked Dean Duncan Harris to share this message with our students via email, and I ask each of you to do the same in your classrooms and offices. It is more important than ever that all of our students understand that MCC is a community that celebrates, promotes – and protects – its diversity.

I would also encourage everyone in the MCC community to offer kindness and compassion to those among us who may be feeling lost or disenfranchised. One of the strengths of Manchester Community College is the variety of people that choose to study and work here – yet these are the very people who are now feeling targeted. We owe it to ourselves and to MCC to reach out to our students and colleagues, to let them know that their diversity adds value and is treasured, and to stand together as one college.

Regards,

Gena

Gena D. Glickman, PhD
President
Manchester Community College